The Birth of a Hero
Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Completely oblivious to the pending danger, Son Gohan was blissfully ravaging his plentiful meal. So far he had made remarkable progress, managing to deplete half his reserves in a minute or so, half of his reserves being equivalent to that of a twenty-person banquet. In his haste, he failed to realize that a woman with a relatively high ki, for that of the high school students, was making a beeline towards him.
Videl's smirk grew a little wider as her suspicions were confirmed, Son Gohan was the student at the table, and he was trying to stay hidden. It was time to interrogate the new kid, who was at the moment…
She couldn't believe it, her mouth hung low in an apparent expression of her shock. There was no way any one man, let alone teen, could eat such a ridiculous amount of food. Moreover, there was no way that one man could eat that much food that fast. Appalled at his blatant disregard for table manners and, even more so, about his appetite, she entered the shadowy depths under the tree hand on hips.
"Son Gohan! What the hell are you doing?!"
He nearly choked on a rice ball at the sudden ejaculation, immediately coughing and spluttering, trying to spit out the suffocating morsel. After a few minutes of pain, he managed to forcibly swallow it, and turned his attention to whoever addressed him. His eyes went wide with a feeling of dread, it was her—Videl—and she didn't appear to be in a mood for civilized conversation.
"Um…eating?" He answered with slight trepidation. He wasn't sure why he was afraid, maybe it was his experiences with his mother, but he knew that he most certainly was very afraid.
"That's not eating Gohan," she said disgust clearly manifested in her tone.
"Sorry, I was really hungry. And I thought I was alone." He quickly said, his apprehension growing with each sentence she spoke.
Feeling a little guilty at the last statement, she decided to ease off, after all how could she get answers if he was afraid to talk to her?
"Ah it's ok. I shouldn't have sprung up on you like that. But next time, try not to eat like that. It's so disgusting. Speaking of eating, how can you eat so much?"
"I don't really know. I guess it's heredity or something. My father used to eat a heck of a lot."
"Wow, it's kinda hard to believe though. That is way too much food. Oh, I just realized. I didn't introduce myself."
"Speaking of which, neither did I." They both smiled at each other.
"So, who's gonna go first?" Videl asked, rather nonchalantly, because she knew that he knew who she was. One advantage of being a celebrity child is that you don't need to bear the formality of introducing yourself—your status does that for you—although, conversely, copious disadvantages were highly prevalent.
"Well, you probably already heard the teacher say my name, but for the sake of formality, it is Son Gohan."
A smile graced her pinkish lips, "And you probably already heard of me before, but for the sake of formality, it is Satan Videl." He laughed as a broad smile encroached his lips. He really didn't know who she was prior to the inception of his schooling, but he deduced fairly easily that she had to be some relative of Mr. Satan—the mendacious fraud— and she may very well be his daughter.
"Hey, you wanna join me? I think I can spare some food for you." He looked at the pile with a hint of remorse, but after a mental debate, decided it would be best to part with some of it.
She wanted to decline, and she would have, had she not forgotten her lunch money. Currently the Daughter of the Champ was broke, not a dime on her, and was absolutely famished on account of a light breakfast.
"Sure, I'm starved. And it looks like you wouldn't notice a sandwich gone here or there," she said smiling. Most of her suspicion of the boy's character had disappeared, he seemed nice enough, but there still was a nagging doubt about him. Something was rotten in the State of Denmark, and she'd be damned if anyone could prove otherwise.
"Hehe, go ahead, help yourself." Cautiously she picked out a sandwich, taking a tester bite to make sure it wasn't some weird mountaineer combination, and was delighted to discover that it was absolutely delectable. Her stomach was inclined to agree, as it growled for more. She blushed, hoping that Gohan hadn't heard that, but much to her dismay he did, a knowing smirk plastered on his face.
"Heh. I guess we're both really hungry."
"Yeah, I guess. I didn't have much of a breakfast, come to think of it, my breakfast was a measly slice of toast, over-charred.
He grinned, "I had a measly breakfast as well. Just a few chicken legs and 4 bowls of rice, not so much of a breakfast of champions is it?"
She sweat-dropped, "Yeah, that's a breakfast of a whole championship team…"
He blushed, instantly remembering that his appetite was a little different from the norm. Videl was on her second sandwich and showed no signs of slowing down; Chi-Chi's cooking had that irresistible taste to it.
"Man this is really good. You're mom a professional chef or something?"
"Hah no, but if you ask me, she should be."
"No kidding, I've haven't ate anything so tasty in a long time. That includes all those stupid parties for my dad at fancy over-priced restaurants."
For the next few minutes they ate in silence, well as silent as a saiya-jin could be whilst eating. Videl, finishing her third sandwich and concluding that she couldn't possible eat any more, diverted her attention to Gohan who was just finishing up his massive lunch. She looked at him, casually thinking that he indeed was pretty attractive, only to subsequently admonish herself for such despicable thoughts. How could she wage her ongoing campaign against males if she herself fell for one?
She had never felt so attracted to someone ever before, mostly because her excessively proactive danger signals went off at nearly every half-decent fellow, but this time it was different. Gohan wasn't like the rest. He had a distinctive aura of benevolence, giving himself the impression that he wouldn't unnecessarily hurt even a fly. Although, conversely, it also projected the image that he was painfully geeky and fragile.
"Videl?" She was immediately startled out of her reverie. Gohan was looking up at her awkwardly, sitting against a tree looking quite satisfied with his enormous meal.
"Yes?"
"Oh nothing. You were just spaced out there for a little while."
"Yeah, just thinking. About, you know, stuff." He nodded his head, not wanting to pry her for details, ironically respecting the privacy of a person who was prying him for details.
"Well, the bell's gonna go soon. Better get back." Gohan motioned to get up, but he heard a low beeping sound. He looked at her as if inquiring about the noise. She was staring at her watch, a rather unusual one at that too.
"Yes Chief?"
Static emitted from the watch, then a deep voice that seemingly commanded authority was heard. "Videl, we are currently staked out around one of Mafia boss Toni Salvatore's warehouses. We have intelligence reports suggesting that the Don himself is inside. As you know it is imperative that we don't fail this time in his capture, he has eluded us one too many times. We still have intelligence agents inside, who are currently infiltrating their base, undercover of course, to disable the communications archive and to sabotage the get away vehicles. This is a very sensitive matter, which should be approached with caution."
"Alright Chief I'm on my way."
"Negative Videl, our agents need sometime to complete their objectives, and your helicopter is a clear sign to the criminals that the police is on their tail. We have surrounded them undercover, and they are not yet aware of our presence. We need you to join us ETA minus two hours, without your helicopter, near the Adams Street Bridge. There one of our operatives will chauffeur you to us. Be there at precisely 14:30.
"Ok Chief."
"Over and out"
She looked at the watch deep in contemplation, and then started to walk slowly towards the school building. Gohan hastily caught up with her, genuine bewilderment reflected upon his eyes.
"What was that about?"
"What, you heard him, I'm needed at a stakeout."
"Why? Are you a cop?"
She looked at him dubiously, "You don't know what I do?"
"Nope"
"It figures, you live way in the mountains. Anyway, I voluntarily fight crime. Since I'm the daughter of the Champ, I guess I inherited his fighting prowess."
Gohan resisted the urge to laugh, suppressing his giggles, he continued to walk beside her. "So, is it dangerous?"
She laughed, "Of course it is, but I can take the heat."
He glanced at her a little worried, "If your going to storm some drug bosses' hideout, it's a certainty that they'd have heavy artillery."
"Probably…" She trailed off, and Gohan noticed a very minute trace of vacillation inherent in her voice, something that wouldn't have been noticed if he hadn't looked for it.
"I don't think you should go, you could get hurt."'
She blushed a little, noticing the sincere tone in his voice. Did he care for her that much? She had only met him today for Pete's sake. Maybe he was this nice to everyone, he did seem very compassionate.
"No it's ok, I do this sort of thing everyday. No big deal."
Gohan was about to object, but the bell went off signifying the end of lunch.
"Bye Gohan, see you next class." Videl said as she strolled off into the building. He cursed under his breath, knowing he didn't have time now to make Videl reconsider. Why was he so worried about her anyway? He had just met her. But he couldn't shake off the troublesome feeling that something was going to happen to her. He couldn't let that happen, not after what had happened before when he let things get out of hand. Videl was his newest friend, the first person his age that he had come into contact with for a long time, and it was his duty to do everything in his power to prevent her from getting hurt.
Why did he care for her so intensely? Was he attracted to her? Definitely, but to what extent was still to be determined. He blushed a little as he pondered over his feelings for Videl, and came to the conclusion that he liked her, very much. As he was about to enter the school though, a thought struck him. How was he going to help Videl without revealing the extent of his abilities? If they were exposed, then unquestionably he would be alienated from his classmates, and most importantly, from Videl.
After careful deliberation, he determined that his best bet would be to seek help from Bulma Briefs, resident Z fighter genius. He walked in the direction of the Nurse's office, hoping silently that she wouldn't cause too much of a problem. Upon entering the small room he immediately reconsidered. The nurse was not the grandmotherly nurturing lady we had all become accustomed to, but possessed sharp features and a stiff form. Her sharp calculating gaze bore into him, quickly instilling fear into the spiky-haired teen.
"What's it?" She asked, her tone being quick and precise. Gohan immediately winced at her strict demeanor, this was going to be hard convincing.
"Um, I don't feel so good." He said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
"Oh really? Where have I heard that before? Now, what exactly are you feeling?"
"I don't know, I feel hot and a little dizzy." Thinking quickly, he inconspicuously warmed himself with his ki, the end effect being that his skin was hot to touch and sweat started to trickle down his face.
"Well let's have a look-see." The tone was dripping with skepticism, as she rose and walked around her desk to Gohan. She put her hand on his forehead, and her eyes immediately widened. She also observed that sweat was dripping freely from his face, not a good sign. Had she been in Gohan's shoes, she would have known it was hot perspiration and not the cold sweat reminiscent in fever.
"Okay, you look pretty ill. You definitely have a fever, so I suggest you go home and start some fever medication. Here, this is your excuse slip, give it to the front office."
"Thanks." Relief was evident in his voice, and still feigning illness, he swaggered out of the office and into the hallway. Making sure that no one was around, he zipped across to the front office, excused himself and walked up to the roof of the building. He again scanned for prying eyes, and when satisfied, took off as fast as he could, white ki enveloping his body.
***************************
Gohan had a brief chat with Bulma, and they both had come to the mutual conclusion that a disguise would be best suited for him. So after approximately one and a half hours, during which Gohan interacted with the purple menace, Bulma came back from her lab triumph evident on her face.
"Oh I am such a genius!"
"Wow, I think Vegeta's pride is rubbing off on you Bulma," Gohan jibed in playful banter.
She scowled at him, "There's nothing wrong in stating the facts."
"Facts? Or arrogance?"
She smacked him playfully as she handed him some sort of watch.
"Bulma, I don't want to tell the time, I want a disguise!" He exclaimed, a little flustered and irritated.
"It's not a watch silly, it's a device that is programmed to decapsulate your disguise in such a way that by a touch of a button you would be wearing your costume."
"Wow, is that even possible?"
"Not until today, shows you how incredibly adept I am."
"So I press the red button?"
"Yup."
He pressed it and suddenly a bright light enveloped him, the intensity of the light was enough to make Bulma and Trunks turn away shielding their eyes from its brightness, and as suddenly it had come it had gone. Gohan was nowhere to be seen though, his characteristic spiky hair and gullible face replaced by a helmet and visor. Standing there was a tall form, clad in a green gi over a skin-tight black body suit, a red cape billowing about behind him. All in all he looked quite comical, the helmet accompanied by a visor made him look like some deranged biker, and completing the amusing image was a red cape.
Gohan looked into a full-length mirror and was amazed; he looked like those cool superheroes in comics and movies!
"Wow Bulma!! I look awesome, this is so cool!" He exclaimed, brimming with excitement. "Look Trunks, don't I look like a superhero!"
"Uh…no comment."
"Wow, thanks Bulma, this is awesome." He glanced at the watch, and noticed that Videl had to be by the Adam's Street Bridge in 15 minutes, his cue to leave. "Man, I love it. I have to go now Bulma, watch for me in the news!" With that the thrilled teen waved goodbye, and blasted off towards the bridge.
Trunks watched the trailing figure of Gohan, and then looked up to his mother.
"Mom you made him into a fool."
********************************
Videl had already been chauffeured by the covert operatives, who were incredibly prompt, to a black van parked near the warehouse. Currently she was in the van, going over a map with the Chief and the leader of the S.W.A.T team, as they made her privy to the carefully constructed mission plan.
"Alright, I get it." Videl answered, looking a little apprehensive. The S.W.A.T team would burst in through the side door, and would open fire on the various guard posts inside. Videl, taking cover from S.W.A.T members who would form a semi-circle around her, will race into the door they believe leads to Salvatore. She would have to covertly take out the goons guarding his office's entrance, and apprehend the Mafia boss.
"Here Videl, take this." The Team leader handed her a Ruger & Stromm automatic pistol, capable of firing multiple rounds in rapid succession without jamming.
"No thanks, I can't stand those things." She said, backing away from the offered weapon.
"It's going to be extremely hard for you without this, are you sure?"
"Never been surer in my life."
"Suit yourself, we move in at ETA minus 2 minutes." With that he left the van, discreetly walking towards a larger van in the vicinity. This van contained a twelve man S.W.A.T team, heavily armed and ready for action.
Two minutes passed rather quickly, causing Videl's heartbeat to increase and a queasy feeling manifested itself in the pit of her stomach. She was shaking slightly, the anxiety obviously getting the best of her. She had apprehended many criminals before, even armed ones, but this was different. Now she was dealing with callous murderers, who were very well armed and numerous. She was strong, but not invincible.
"Take it easy, you're going to be fine." The Chief said, warmly putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and smiled, an uneasy smile, and turned her head back to the rear of the van.
"It's time," he said softly, as the team leader gave the order through the radio. Next thing she knew, she was running furiously behind a bunch of black-clad S.W.A.T agents, everything happening in a fast blur. They kicked down the door, and rushed in. Soon rapid gunfire permeated the silence, as S.W.A.T opened up on the unsuspecting goons. Disheveled and confused, the gang members tried to take cover behind boxes, shouting for back up.
Videl ducked down behind a tight semi-circle of swat members, who had shields of their own as they fired. Time blurred as the Leader gave her the signal, and she rushed towards a door inside the warehouse, whilst S.W.A.T provided heavy cover fire. Staying as low as possible, stray bullets whizzing past her head, she kicked down the metal door and jumped in, relieved to be out of firing range. She was in a staircase, with the stench of drugs spread thickly in the air. Subduing her sudden urge to retch, she made her way up the stairs silently.
Peeking inside the hallway the stairs led to, she saw four goons guarding the door, a frantic look in their eyes as they tried to discern what was happening downstairs. Seeing their panicked state of mind, she decided to take advantage and charged head on at them. When they saw her it was too late, she had already put one goon straight through the wall, and the other was kneeling on the ground clutching his stomach. The two remaining gangsters tried to pull out their pistols, but the girl was too fast for them and soon they also joined their comrades on the floor, unconscious.
She kicked down the door, and rushed in, to see a very large gentleman in a white suit sitting behind a massive mahogany desk. He stood up and slammed his hands on the desk, causing a loud thump to resonate throughout the room.
"Who dares disrupt me?!" He bellowed, his face set in a menacing glare.
"It's the Girl Scouts. You want to buy a freshly baked cookie? The proceeds will be donated to Criminals Anonymous, it's a great counseling center for criminal masterminds and psychopathic killers to talk their problems through. Say, didn't I see you there?"
"Oh, a smart one are you. Are you here to take me to jail?" He laughed heartily, momentarily taking his eyes off of her, no doubt coming to erroneous conclusions by observing the intruder's gender, and size.
That was all the opening she needed, and she sprang forward with great agility and speed. She landed a direct sidekick to his massive head, and then flipping around using her momentum she smashed him with an aerial roundhouse. He staggered backwards, a little dazed by the sudden onslaught.
He didn't fall! Those were the hardest kicks I could muster.
She didn't want to surrender her advantage, so she pressed on, giving him a barrage of kicks and punches she so frequently used on her punching bag in the gym. The big man was nearly overwhelmed, but with a sudden bellow of fury he smashed her with a direct hit on the face. She reeled backwards, blood dripping from her nose, instinctively covering up the nose with her hand. He charged at her and smashed her with his shoulder, sending her flying back into the wall, a large crack forming on the wall by the impact.
"Approximately two percent of my body mass is fat. Allow me to show you what 300 pounds of muscle can do." She didn't give him a chance to act though, as she sprang up and using her speed managed dodge the punch that shattered the wall into pieces. She again pursued a relentless attack, this time keeping her distance as not to make the same mistake she did before. She was doing very well; landing solid kicks to the temple and cranium that were slowly wearing the big man down, his body however was extremely hard. He wasn't kidding about the percent fat statistic. Just as she was getting ready to launch her coup-de-grace, a spinning aerial uppercut kick, she heard a metallic click past her temple.
A cold hard pistol was set on the side of her head, the man holding it was one of the goons she knocked out earlier, guess he recovered fast.
"Move pretty one, and you die." The voice was malicious, with rancid breath being emitted from his mouth.
Don Salvatore had fully recovered from the Videl's ferocious onslaught, blood dripping from a gash on his head.
"Good work Axe, remind me to raise your salary."
"No problem boss," he quipped, still keeping the gun trained on her head.
Salvatore walked up to her and smashed her face again, this time nearly breaking her nose as more blood spewed out from her nostrils. She lay on the ground, slightly dazed.
"Wow boss, isn't she the pretty one?"
"Probably, that shirt is too obstructing though, remove it for me Axe."
Not realizing until it was too late, Videl heard a tearing sound, as the goon called Axe ripped off her white over shirt. She was left only wearing her pink undershirt, and somewhere amongst the havoc of this mission her pigtails had opened up, leaving her dark hair cascading down to her shoulders.
She looked up at the Don, whose eyes were gleaming with lust. Fear immediately sprung forth as the pit of her stomach was going wild, she watched him slowly advance upon her.
"Don't you dare," she squeaked, her voice slightly trembling.
"Shut up bitch, you don't tell the boss what he can and can't do. Oh yeah, you make a move against him, anything, and your brains will be splattered all over the floor, got it?"
Salvatore continued to advance upon her, as he slowly undid the button on his trousers. He walked over and knelt down on top of her, slowly pushing the long length of hair behind her ear.
"So beautiful, I bet you're still a virgin. This was worth the fight."
Videl pressed herself against the floor, wanting it to swallow her up whole. Anything was better than this, anything. She was trembling violently, tears welling up in her eyes. As he leaned in closer, inevitably to force a kiss, she turned her head to the side and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping against hope that this was some bad dream.
She waited for those vile lips to touch her face, a steady stream of tears flowing down off her face and on to the floor. His hot breath came very near, and was about to make the initial contact when she heard a whooshing sound, followed by a muffled "oof".
Her eyes shot open and she saw Salvatore writhing in agony beside her, clutching his abdomen. The other goon, Axe, was staring at some guy who was holding a gun at him. Hold on, he was holding the gun that Axe was training on her earlier. How did he get it so fast?
"You know it's not nice to point guns at people. Especially at pretty women."
"Wha…how," the confused goon managed to stammer, a little fear creeping into his disposition.
"Not what my friend, who. I am," he promptly jumped backwards, doing all sorts of weird poses, "The GREAT SAIYA-MAN!"
Videl would have burst out laughing had she not just experienced an attempted rape, but she called out, "Who?"
He turned to her, jumping into another set of poses, "The defender of the innocent, the upholder of justice, I right wrongs, I free the oppressed, I AM GREAT SAIYAMAN!" He finished with a particularly goofy pose, which earned a grin from Videl.
"Now man, you were very cocky with a gun on Miss Videl, now let's see if you can face her without it, shall we?" He turned to Videl, "I believe you have some ass kicking to attend to."
The man's eyes widened in fear, and he decided the best option would be to flee, revealing his true cowardice. She disposed of him easily, and glanced at Salvatore, who had finished writhing around in pain and had passed out on the carpet.
"What did you do to him?"
"Oh just gave him what he deserved. Are you okay?" He saw the dried up remnants of her salty tears on her face. She was still trembling a little; it was a traumatizing experience to say the least.
"I'll be fine," she said, trying to muster up enough courage to sound sincere. She was trying her hardest not to cry, she couldn't cry, after all was that not a sign of weakness?
He walked up to her and handed her the torn up shirt softly saying, "Are you sure? You're bleeding."
She looked at him with large eyes and nodded. Wiping the blood before it completely dried with her shirt that Saiya-man had handed to her. S.W.A.T had swarmed into the room, quickly cuffing Salvatore's limp body and dragging him off, hoping to incarcerate him for a long time.
The Chief walked up to them, "Good work Videl, we knew we could count on you." Then diverting his attention to Saiya-man, "And you to son, I didn't catch your name by the way."
Gohan looked at him, and jumped backwards, repeating the embarrassing introduction process. "The defender of the innocent, the upholder of justice. I right wrongs, I free the oppressed, I AM GREAT SAIYAMAN!!" Everyone stopped what they were doing, the S.W.A.T members gaping at him, trying to maintain a straight face and utilize the years of discipline they were taught. Saiya-man nodded to them, and jumped out the window flying off.
"Wow, he could fly?" Videl asked, to no one in particular.
"Yeah, he was amazing. The S.W.A.T members were getting overwhelmed, since you took a little bit more time than anticipated. They're ammunition was fast being depleted, lucky for them, this fellow showed up and sedated them all quite easily."
She looked outside the window, to the trailing figure of Saiya-man.
I wish I could fly. I wonder who he is? I owe him my life. DAMN HIM!
(A/N- If I type anymore, my fingers will lose all sense of feeling. I privy thee, then, to a humorous parting gift.)
I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty.
George Burns (1896 - 1996)
